Commandant Autographs F-35s While Touring Lockheed Factory in Texas

>

11 Feb 2016

The Marine Corps' top officer recently revealed that some fresh-from-the-factory F-35 jets will come to the fleet with an added feature: his signature.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition in Washington, D.C., last week, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said he had visited Lockheed Martin's factory in Fort Worth, Texas the day before to inspect the new Joint Strike Fighters as they rolled off the production line and to meet with Lockheed executives.

"I got to sign a few F-35s," he said.

On some, he said, he wrote "property of the U.S. Marine Corps." He then acknowledged this might be a faux pas, as some of the aircraft he signed were the F-35C variant -- the Navy version of the aircraft.